Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!bingvaxu!leah!itsgw!imagine!pawl12.pawl.rpi.edu!jesup
From: jesup@pawl12.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Amiga IPC should be the Amiga Unix IPC!
Message-ID: <673@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>
Date: 15 Apr 88 05:47:17 GMT
References: <2504@unicus.UUCP> <290@boing.UUCP> <2531@unicus.UUCP>
Sender: news@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU
Reply-To: jesup@pawl12.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Organization: RPI Public Access Workstation Lab - Troy, NY
Lines: 36

In article <2531@unicus.UUCP> craig@Unicus.COM (Craig D. Hubley) writes:
>Commodore already knows this, I assume, since the Bridgeboard is relatively
>well integrated with the Amiga environment.  It should be even easier to 
>integrate the other way, implementing the same interface on top of a somewhat
>different back end.  Porting AmigaDOS to Amiga Unix couldn't be so difficult
>as to warrant nullifying everyone's software investment and giving up goodies
>like lightweight tasks, particularly useful for user interfaces, etc.

>Technical question, particularly for those involved in writing ARP:
>How difficult is it to make Amigadog run under Unix as a task ?

	Remember, Unix tasks can't be trusted with access to the hardware.

Therefor: 1)  Parts of Exec need to be rewritten (task switch, enable, etc),
	      and, of course, AllocMem & the interrupt stuff.
	  2)  Graphics needs a VBlank interrupt, plus all copper/blitter/
	      sprite stuff requires going through Unix.
	  3)  Every .device requires replacement with versions that go to
	      Unix to interface with the hardware.
	  4)  Even if all of these are done, any program that goes to the
	      hardware won't work.
	  5)  Running a realtime system under a non-realtime system doesn't
	      work very well (think about it).

Too bad they didn't have unix run under exec, at least.  It's possible, but
not easy, to make amigados run under unix.

Note that Amazing Computing has an ad for 'Amix' (or Amnix?)  It's a Sys V
workalike, and I think it runs under AmigaDos (certainly it doesn't have
an MMU!)  I don't think it requires an '020 or '010, and it lists for
just under $400.  Of course, I haven't seen it running yet. :-)

     //	Randell Jesup			      Lunge Software Development
    //	Dedicated Amiga Programmer            13 Frear Ave, Troy, NY 12180
 \\//	beowulf!lunge!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP    (518) 272-2942
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(-: The Few, The Proud, The Architects of the RPM40 40MIPS CMOS Micro :-)